Mountain Athlete: Weight Training for Climbing

Most of the guides and climbers looked very fit and moved well but were pathetically weak by gym standards.

My guides could easily handle back-to-back one-day ascents of the Grand Teton, but struggled to dead lift their body weight, or do three sets of ten basic push-ups. Classic exercises like Turkish get-ups and one-arm bench presses identified glaring strength and muscle imbalances. Several were even weak doing sport-specific exercises like pull-ups.

The best thing I can do for my athletes is get them stronger. Strength is the foundation of athletic ability, and I saw it as not only increasing performance, but also adding durability, or resistance to injury.

I do not train body builders or power lifters. I understand that mountain athletes must not only be strong, but also light to move well on rock and snow. I aim to get them stronger without making them heavier.

Stronger, longer is the goal. Developing the ability to stay strong for extended periods of time can be as much a mental task as physical ability and stamina. Extended bouts of cardio-respiratory and muscular stress at high, but sub-maximal levels perhaps best mirror mountain events. Muscles burn. Chest heaves. The mind grows weak. Power endurance and strength endurance give the alpinist the ability to keep on moving, no matter what.

Stephen Koch digging into Nightmare on Wolf Street (M7+ WI6+ l80m),
Stanley Headwall, B.C., Canada. Climbed on March 10, 2008. Koch
began training at Mountain Athlete in the spring of 2007. Koch had been dealing with a herniation of his back for several years before working out at Mountain Athlete. He believes his increased core strength from attending Mountain Athlete training sessions has resulted in less injuries.
[Photo] Jack Jefferies

Our power endurance training focused on intervals and intense metabolic conditioning circuits. These events often last fifteen to twenty minutes and, in a word, suck. A good example is a workout we call "Girl Farts," which involves rowing 5500 meters on a Concept 2 rower, and doing fifty-five "Renegade Man Makers"—a push up, squat and push/press combination exercise performed holding two 25# dumbbells for men, and two 15# dumbbells for women. (Note: Women do the same exercises and same number of reps as men, but usually with lighter loads. Some of my female athletes use higher loads than new male athletes.)

When done all out, the athletes' muscles and lungs fail at just about the same time. Pushing this intensely is very uncomfortable. This type of training takes serious mental toughness.

Taking the lead from Greg Glassman and CrossFit, I used the stopwatch and competition as an effort motivator. One thing climbers are is competitive. All I had to do to push the intensity level was give a handful of them the same workout, pull out the stopwatch, and say "3-2-1-GO!"

Mountaineers know how to suffer, but this was something different. It took time for some of the guides and regular climbers to grow accustomed to this level of intensity before they developed the mental toughness to truly push as hard as they could.

One of the great things about being a new lifter is your strengths come fast and easy. My athletes were no different.

Exum Guide Brian Harder is a good example. With just six months of training, his maximum bench press went from 190 pounds to 235, his front squat increased from 115 pounds to 235, and his dead lift grew from 185 to 360 pounds.

Kim Young pushing through the pain at Mountain Athlete. Women do the same exercises and same number of reps as men, but usually with lighter loads. Some veteran female athletes use higher loads than new male athletes.

Rob Hess saw his front squat increase from 145 pounds to 215 and his dead lift increase from 235 pounds to 305.

Stephen Koch's bench increased from 150 pounds to 195, his front squat from 135 to 225, and his dead lift from 250 pounds to 335.

Andy Bardon and Will Wetzel have each added significant horsepower, especially in overall upper-body strength. Connie and Tina are two of my best performers, often crushing men unlucky enough to train in the same session and foolish enough to try to keep up.

We saw similar improvements, though not quite as dramatic, in the performance on our power endurance workouts. Rarely, during a regular benchmark workout, is an athlete's time not improved significantly over the previous effort. Increased strength has a lot to do with this. Between benchmark power endurance workouts—usually moderate weight, high-rep strength exercises—we will have several training sessions aimed at improving raw strength by lifting heavy. This makes my athletes stronger. Also, the more of these power endurance workouts my athletes complete, the more they become accustomed to working this intensely. Their mental toughness increases accordingly, and they are able to complete workouts faster.

I am real content with the mentation and don't conceive equivalent adding anything in it. It a perfect response.

Terrence
^<a href="http://www.trainwithmeonline.com"^>weight training

2009-09-29 17:24:17

saoirse

Viva Alpinist. And that you Rob Shaul for his excellent article. I am been working with CrossFit New Paltz over the winter and it had a significant impact in my climbing strength and endurance.

Couple of thoughts/questions: One question I have is rest days. CF seems to say 3 days on, 1 day off. But how do you guide or climb after a workout? Or climb for 7 plus hours and then go train and then wake up the next day and climb again. My climbing performance is often way down the day after a workout. Any suggestions.

Two diet. Do you suggest some variation on the zone.

Three. Being from Brooklyn, I hate to get all hippie but I dont dig some of the competiveness around CF? As a woman who is working out with almost all guys I dont really want to come in last place. Its a downer anyway you cut it.